Starting Solid Foods with Baby and Making your Own Baby Food

Knowing when your baby is ready to start solid foods

At Addison’s four-month wellness check-up, our pediatrician asked if Addison seemed ready to start eating solid foods. The telltale signs for determining if your baby is ready for solid food include if your baby can hold his/her head up and control head movements, sit-up with support, seems unsatisfied after milk feedings or is starting to demand more frequent milk feeds, starts putting things in his/her mouth, seems interested in what you are eating during mealtime, and starts waking up in the middle of the night as a result of hunger having slept well previously.  Not all of these signs need to occur, but many should.   Babies typically start eating solid foods between 4-6 months, but the large majority of a baby’s nutrition for the first full year should come from the nutrients in breast milk or formula.  The purpose of introducing solid foods is mainly so babies become familiar with different food tastes and textures as a building block for when solid food constitutes most of their diet after they are a year old.

 

Making Your Own Baby Food

Addison seemed ready to begin solid foods at five-months, and our pediatrician said that she should try three different foods by her six-month wellness check-up.  I have always known I would make my own baby food, because I love to cook, and I love to know exactly what’s in the food I eat and the food I serve my family and friends.  It’s also much cheaper to make your own baby food compared with buying premade food in a store.  Making baby food is easy, and I already owned all of the necessary tools.  

To make baby food all you need are some good wholesome ingredients, a steaming basket, a pot with a lid that fits the steaming basket, and a food processor or blender.  Since most baby food recipes make more than your baby will eat in the two days it will keep in your refrigerator, it is a good idea to freeze what’s leftover so you can pull it out and have fresh food for your baby on a day when you don’t have time to make it.  I try to avoid using plastic containers for food storage because of the chemicals contained in plastic material.  I looked everywhere for one-ounce covered portion containers not made out of plastic that I could freeze leftover food in. I couldn’t find any, so I decided to use a plastic covered ice cube tray (which makes one ounce portions) to freeze the food, and then once frozen, I pop the individual portions out of the freezer tray and store the food portions in eight ounce glass food storage containers (like Pyrex) labeled with the type of food and the date it was frozen (in general, frozen baby food should be consumed within one month of freezing it).  To de-thaw the food for your baby, just take however much food you want to serve your baby out of the freezer, and de-thaw it in your refrigerator over night.  The benefit of freezing food in one ounce portions is that you can feed your baby a little bit of a few different foods to diversify the different foods that your baby gets at one meal.  Also, less food gets wasted if portions are frozen individually.

When you serve your baby a new food for the first time, it is a good idea to serve that food to baby exclusively for three days in a row. That way, if your child has an allergic reaction to the food, he or she will have eaten it in isolation, so you know exactly what food caused the allergic reaction.

Recommended First Foods (6-7 months)

Vegetables (steamed or baked): beets, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, fennel, parsnip, peas, potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, rutabaga, squash, spinach and zucchini

Fruits (steamed or baked): apple, apricot, berries, pitted cherries, pear and plum

Fruits (raw but soft or very ripe): apricot, guava, mango, banana, avocado, fig, melon, nectarine, papaya, peach, persimmon and plum

Other: whole grain rice cereal, oatmeal, millet and barley

Fluids: breast milk, formula, water

(Information taken from The Top 100 Baby Food Recipes by Christine Bailey published in 2011 by Sterling Publishing Company NY, NY)

Baby Food Recipes

Sweet Carrot Puree

What you need:

5 medium size organic carrots washed, peeled and sliced into even-sized pieces.

What you do:

Steam the carrots in a steamer basket in a pot with a lid with one inch of water in it for 10 minutes or until the carrots are tender.  Put the steamed carrots in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.

Baked Butternut Squash or Pumpkin Puree

What you need:

1 small butternut squash or pumpkin cut in half length-wise.

What you do:  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Scoop seeds out of squash or pumpkin with a spoon and put cut-side down on a baking sheet. Pour enough water in the baking sheet to come ¼ inch up the side of the squash or pumpkin (this will add a “steaming” effect when baking).  Bake squash or pumpkin until tender when pierced with a fork (45-60 minutes).  Remove squash or pumpkin from oven and let cool slightly. Scoop out flesh from inside of squash or pumpkin into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.

Pear or Apple Cinnamon Puree

What you need:

3 organic pears or apples peeled, quartered and evenly chopped

Dash of ground cinnamon

What you do:

Steam the apples or pears in a steamer basket in a pot with a lid with one inch of water in it for 8-10 minutes or until the apples or pears are tender.  Put the steamed apples or pears and a dash of cinnamon in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency. 

Sweet Potato, Broccoli and Cumin Puree

The reason to combine these two vegetables is because broccoli has a very strong flavor, so many babies do not like it at first. The sweet potato adds a sweetness that most babies enjoy.   The cumin is a great accent flavor for these two vegetables.

What you need:  

1 small organic sweet potato, washed, peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes

5 organic broccoli florets

Dash of ground cumin

What you do:

Steam the sweet potato in a steamer basket in a pot with a lid with one inch of water in it for five minutes, and then add the broccoli to the steamer and continue to steam for 8-10 more minutes until both vegetables are tender.  Put the steamed vegetables and a dash of cumin into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.

Beet and Red Plum Puree

To some, beets have a slightly bitter flavor. Combined with sweetish-tart red plums, this is a delicious and energizing combination. 

What you need:  

2 organic red beets washed, peeled and diced into cubes

1 organic red plum peeled and diced into cubes

What you do:

Put the beets and plums into a small saucepan and cover with water.  Bring the water to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  If you want, you can save the water (which will have turned bright red) to use as a natural food coloring!! Once the beets and plums are cooked, put them into a food processor and puree until smooth. Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.

Pumpkin Pie Root Veggie Medley

This sweet and creamy puree is a great way to get your baby to eat lots of vegetables!  Addison wasn’t crazy about eating carrots pureed by themselves, but she loved this combination of carrots, sweet potatoes and parsnip!

What you need:

1 small to medium size sweet potato washed, peeled and cubed

2 organic carrots washed, peeled and cubed

1 parsnip washed, peeled and cubed

Dash of dried ground Pumpkin Pie Spice

Tip: make sure that the veggies are cut into evenly-sized pieces so they cook evenly

What you do:

Steam the veggies in a steaming basket in an inch of water in a saucepan with a cover for 10-12 minutes.  Once the veggies are soft, remove them carefully from the steaming basket and transfer them to a food processor. Add a dash or two of pumpkin pie spice and puree until smooth. Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.

 

Apricot and Carrot Puree

Since Addison didn’t love eating stand-alone carrot puree, I wanted to find other things to combine carrots with that she would like. Apricots are great because they give a sweetness to the puree that babies love.

What you need:

2 organic carrots washed, peeled and chopped

¼-1/2 cup unsulfured dried apricots

What you do:

Put the carrots, apricots and 1/3-1/2 cup water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender.  Remove the carrots and apricots from the saucepan and keep the water. Put the carrots, apricots and some of the water into a food processor and blend until smooth. Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.

Make Your Own Natural Food Coloring

With the Easter holiday coming up, lots of families will enjoy the fun tradition of dying Easter eggs.  Spring and summer are also popular times for birthday parties and other celebrations that require colorfully decorated cakes, cupcakes and ice cream.  

Unfortunately, traditional food coloring dyes used in lots of foods and crafts are made from chemicals and color additives, such as yellow 5, red 40, blue 1 among others. Color additives are blended to create a brightness or intensity to the base color. The other basic ingredients of synthetic food coloring are propylparaben, propylene glycol and water.

Propylparaben is used in both cosmetics and in food. It is composed of white powder crystals that act as a preserving agent in liquids. Propylparaben prevents the growth of mold and fungus and has no taste or smell.

Propylene glycol is classified by the Federal Department of Agriculture as a food additive, but is also used in medicines and cosmetics. It is the result of a chemical reaction between propylene oxide and water, and is a liquid without color or smell. Propylene glycol is classified as a solvent that stabilizes the ingredients in a given synthetic product.

More information about the ingredients in synthetic food coloring and color additives can be found at: Ingredients in Food Coloring | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5341387_ingredients-food-coloring.html#ixzz1qeZIrwqJ

Make Your Own Natural Food Coloring Using Fruits and Vegetables

Why spoil the fun of dying Easter eggs or frosting cupcakes by using a bunch of chemicals when there is a completely natural and healthy way to get the same fun colorful result?  It’s easy to make your own natural food coloring using fruits and vegetables (plus, your family gets the added nutritional benefit of consuming more fruits and veggies!)

In order to make homemade food coloring you will need:

·      Separate bowls to mix the colors

·      Fruit and veggies to make the dye

·      Juicer or food processor to puree the foods needed for the food coloring

Red

When making red food coloring you can use red berries, such as strawberries, raspberries or cranberries that have been pureed. These berries will add a delicious flavor to icing or food. If you need a liquid dye you can either juice a pomegranate or peel, dice and boil beets to get a deep red colored dye from the water that the beets are cooked in.  You can also boil cranberries to get a deep red color.

Orange

An easy way to make orange food coloring for either frosting or for dying Easter eggs is with carrot juice (homemade or store-bought). You can also use mangos, which require less work to juice if you get them very ripe.

Yellow

Yellow food coloring can be made with the spices saffron or turmeric. Since these spices have flavor, make sure you use a small amount and test the food before adding to an entire batch of frosting. For a liquid dye, you can just add saffron threads or ground turmeric to water.  If you want very little favor added to your dye, use the juice from a few yellow bell peppers.

Green

Green food coloring is easy to make and very quick. Mash some ripe avocados and mix them in with frosting to get green colored frosting. To get a green liquid dye or to get a darker green color to add into frosting, juice some kale, spinach or Swiss chard.  You can also steam the green leafy vegetables to get a dark green liquid dye from the water the greens are steamed in.

Blue

To make blue food coloring, juice some fresh blueberries.

Purple

Believe it or not, the best vegetable to make purple dye with is purple cabbage. If you juice the cabbage, you have an instant purple food coloring. If you don’t have a juicer, or want more of a liquid dye, you can boil the cabbage and then use the juice for the purple food coloring.

Pink

Pink food coloring can be made by juicing strawberries or raspberries.  If the berries produce too dark of a color, simply dilute the color with water or white frosting to get the shade of pink you want.  To get a liquid dye, or a dye that is not sweet, peel, dice and boil beets. This will give you a red dye, and then dilute it with water until you get a lighter color.

Brown

You can make brown food coloring by mixing cocoa powder with the frosting or food you are trying to color.  If you need a liquid dye, you can brew some strong coffee or espresso and use that. 

Healthy Eating: Starting Your Kids Off Right

 The following is a guest post from one of my dearest friends, Alice Seuffert. 

Alice is a St. Paul Mom, wife, full-time employee in education, food blogger and the Kitchen Star on the television show, Twin Cities Live.  You can access her blog that contains tons of fabulous original recipes at http://diningwithalice.blogspot.com/ and follow her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/diningwithalice or Twitter: @aliceseuffert or @diningwithalice

I am a mom that likes to cook and make food fun and creative. 
I often get asked:

How I get my 2 ½ year old to eat everything I serve?

Is there a secret?

Does she really eat salad?

Do you puree veggies into regular food?

These are just a few of the many questions I receive.  I truly believe the investment you make early on in your child’s eating habits must be viewed as strong as any other child-rearing commitment you make.  It is an investment that will reap many rewards; teaching your child how to eat and enjoy a balanced diet as well as build a foundation of good health for now and later life. 

Here is my story-how I guided my daughter to a path of healthy eating with a few pokes and prods (rules) along the way. 

I chose to breast feed my daughter for 19 months.  When I decided to start solids, I talked to my pediatrician and was told it was really up to me on what to introduce first; veggies or fruit.  I actually did some homework and mapped out a plan for introducing the foods.  I read books and researched online about the introduction of various foods. Each week, I made a list of fruits, veggies, meats, nuts, dairy products and seafood and would plan my week of introduction.  It was fun to see the list grow on my fridge.  Plus, as an added benefit, it helped with daycare instructions as I could be specific on what she could and should not have.

I did not allow companies or grocers to dictate through baby food jars what I should be serving my child; I decided myself.  I followed the “Dirty Dozen” organic lists and I made my own baby food.   When making the baby food, I would use my breast milk as the liquid. 

When the time came around for finger foods, I opted for options outside of puffs, yogurt melts and cheerios.   Instead, I offered small pieces of fruits and veggies.   I also kept her away from squeezable packages of fruits and vegetables and offered her the real thing.  Even when on the go, I packaged her fresh foods in a neoprene lunch bag.  Onlookers gave me weird looks when they witnessed me handing my little girl brussel sprouts to gnaw on!  I should note too, she didn’t love everything the first time, but I didn’t give up, I continually offered her the food, and eventually she accepted it.

But everything changes when they are a toddler, right? It doesn’t have to.  Since toddlers are so independent and want to be big helpers, I let my daughter help prepare her meals (I decide what she is going to eat and she scoops it on her plate).   Recently I was making dinner and had a plate of asparagus sitting out that I was planning to serve with dinner and as I was cooking she “snuck” no less than 5 spears-she ate what was available.  Consider that when feeding your child, what is available in your house? If you only offer hot dogs, spaghetti os and macaroni and cheese each night is it any wonder your child sticks her nose up when you attempt to serve them a real “adult looking” meal?  Serve your child what you are having for dinner and don’t be a short order cook-if they know there are other options, they will demand those options.  Toddlers are all about choices too, “would you like tomatoes or peas with your dinner?”  Encourage choices but guide the options, bring them to the grocery store, “would you like meatloaf or spaghetti and meatballs for dinner?”  Trips to the grocery store can also be a lesson on colors, letters and numbers as you browse through the produce section.  If you have a farmers market close by, bring them along.  They will have fun picking their veggies!

Finally, as with healthy adult eating, you have to find a balance in life and there are “special” time foods.  Do we have sweets? Yes, I love to bake and cupcakes are her favorite.  In our house we don’t eat fast food and my daughter has no idea what McDonalds is but we do walk to our local burger restaurant for special occasions.  Again, you as the parent create the foundation and then determine when the time is appropriate for “special” foods. 

Below is a list of healthy eating rules I have established for our family.

Healthy Eating Rules:

·      Healthy eating rules need to be a practice by the whole family.  Both parents need to be on board and you must also include care providers-daycare as well as grandparents and babysitters.

·      Offer snacks that are real food-fruit, veggies, nuts, dried fruits, cheese (instead of puffs, yogurt melts and cereal) and be careful about when you offer the foods as to not fill up before mealtime.

·      Avoid using food as entertainment.  While it is tempting to offer food to avoid meltdowns during certain times, children can consume large amounts of “entertainment snacks” while you sit through church, wait for your meal to arrive or during your coffee meeting with a friend. After consuming so many snacks they won’t be hungry to actually eat a real meal.

·      Don’t offer flavored milk, I also avoid all juice except for smoothies.  Milk at meal times and water at all other times.

·      Offer fruits and vegetables in a manner in which you would like your child to enjoy them in the future (do you want your child to always eat fruit or veggies out of squeeze pouch or secretly mixed into food).  Along the same lines, avoid regularly saucing or putting cheese on veggies.

·       When eating at a restaurant share your meal with your child.  Children’s meal options are rarely healthy and sharing forces you to eat healthy too.

·      Give your child their entire meal at once.  It is tempting to give the meat and veggies first and bread and fruit after they eat the first two items but it is important for them to understand the food as a meal and that you expect them to eat what you have provided.  Toddlers are smart and catch on quickly when you show them veggies, etc aren’t preferred foods. 

·      Don’t be a short-order cook.  Make the meal and serve it, “this is what is for dinner”-don’t offer alternatives.  If the child doesn’t like what is served that is fine and they can get down from the table after you determine mealtime to be over.  Your child will learn that you as the parent determine what is being served (not them).  Prepare for a “hungry and more willing to try something new” child at the next meal. 

·      Avoid “children’s meals”-macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, frozen kids meals, packaged “toddler” meals, etc.  If you continually provide these foods as meals, children will expect them and introducing a cut up chicken breast with plain veggies will likely not go over well.

·      Avoid condiments unless it is dressing for a salad or part of a recipe.

·      Don’t say things like, “She won’t like that, she doesn’t eat broccoli” or “She doesn’t like spicy foods.” Most importantly, don’t say things like “I hate mushrooms” or “That doesn’t look good.”  When you make disparaging comments, your child uses that as a gauge and makes decisions about eating what is presented to them based on how you react.

Establishing healthy eating in your family is a marathon, not a jog around the block.  You need to take your time, prepare, train, and go with the ups and downs; every step is not necessarily predictable.  Take each meal one step at a time; something they hated yesterday may be something they love tonight.